This invention is directed to safety devices for sliding windows or sliding doors. There is considerable prior art of this type as exemplified by U.S. Pat. Nos. 912,458, 1,266,804, 3,420,001, 3,471,189, 3,486,781, 3,512,821, 3,554,592, 3,816,967, 4,005,889. As can be seen devices embody the principle of using an adjustable means so that the sliding window or door can be, if necessary, partially opened. Additionally, a number of these fasteners are designed to be pivotable so that the locking device can be swung to an inoperative position as for example in 3,471,189.
The safety device of the present invention is also adjustable as well as easily removable but acts on a different principle. Essentially the locking device utilizes an hydraulic door closer wherein the cylinder thereof is mounted to an adjacent channel of the window frame and its piston rod is mounted on a bracket on the upper end of the lower window. Adjustability is obtained by a simple movement of the washer which is movable on the piston rod. Unlike the door closer however, the normal position of the piston rod is in full extension. Additionally, while the locking device of this invention is intended to be adaptable to homes already in use, it also is contemplated that it be fitted into newly constructed homes. In this instance the locking device and the channel window frame will be constructed as a single entity, and the channel frame carrying the locking device adjacent the upper window will be separate from the channel frame adjacent the lower window. As an added precaution the cylinder of the locking device will have affixed its upper end a mechanism that will limit movement of the upper window as well.